the group has ties to al-qaeda and the taliban. a leader of that network was killed in a nato air strike last night. defense secretary robert gates got a ceremonial send-off his last day on the job. president obama and the outgoing joint chiefs chairman admiral mike mullen joined hundreds of others on the parade ground outside the pentagon, to mark the occasion. the president awarded gates the medal of freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. and the secretary joked it had been a secret to rival the raid on osama bin laden. >> i'm deeply honored and moved by your presentation of this award. it is a big surprise, but we should have known a couple of months ago, you're getting pretty good at this covert ops stuff. ( laughter ) >> sreenivasan: gates served four and a half years as defense secretary, starting under president bush. he will be replaced by leon panetta, who moves over from his post as c.i.a. director. panetta's successor at the c.i.a. general david petraeus won senate confirmation today. in lebanon, a u.n.-backed tri